


You don't have to say a thing

by RhinoHill



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 03:00:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17541395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhinoHill/pseuds/RhinoHill
Summary: “I’m sorry, sir,” she choked on the words.“What for, captain?” he asked softly. He took a small step closer. “For being affected by a little girl who was used as a pawn in war and almost died?”---oOo---





	You don't have to say a thing

**Author's Note:**

> A moment in time set after "Singularity", S1E15.
> 
> Writers are taught that male characters typically speak less than female characters. That makes Jack O'Neill a perfect male (okay, it's just one of the many ways...)
> 
> But who follows rules? Read on for the night Sam said only three words and Jack said all the rest...
> 
> \---oOo---

The day was over. The mountain was safe again – for the moment. Jack rolled his eyes at the way his own thoughts corrected him. That kind of chatter was Daniel’s territory. It was time to go home.

His truck was one of the last in the darkened parking lot. That wasn’t unusual.

Captain Carter’s was one of the others left so late in the evening. He was used to that, also. But the voice in the back of his mind wouldn’t let go. Something was off.

A shaft of light from the opening elevator door cast a slender frame in silhouette as she walked slowly to her car. The knot of excitement that heated his gut every time he looked at her flipped into worry. Something was off – with her.

Sam opened the drivers’ door and leaned forward against the open frame. Even by the dim interior light of her car he could see the tear tracks glistening on her face. In the darkness of his truck, Jack hesitated, hand on the doorknob.

Suddenly, she swung around, slammed her car door violently and ran back towards the base. He waited until he knew he wouldn’t trap her in the elevator before he followed.

Her lab was dark and silent. So was the woman’s locker room. And the gym. Only the night staff chatted and checked the monitors in the gate room. On his way to the infirmary, a thought struck him and he turned towards the guest quarters.

The door to the room Cassandra had been staying in before Janet adopted her was ajar. In the stripped room, in the dark, his captain sat on the bare bed, wrapped in her own arms and shaking with her sobs.

Jack’s heart ached with her loneliness.

Silently, he stepped into the room.

Sam shot up and rounded the bed, placing it between them. Shoulders tense in the green light of the exit sign above her head, she pulled her sleeves across her face.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she choked on the words.

“What for, captain?” he asked softly. He took a small step closer. “For being affected by a little girl who was used as a pawn in war and almost died?”

She shook her head and wrapped her arms more tightly around her.

He recognised the look on her face. Loss. He let out a small sigh of pain. Jack took another step closer.

“For becoming attached to her?”

Sam shut her eyes tightly against his words.

“Carter,” one more step and he could reach her arm with his outstretched hand. She didn’t move away when he touched her. Good. It took only the slightest pressure for her to allow him to pull her closer. Her arms stayed tightly wrapped around her body, but her head dropped forward onto his shoulder. Soft hair fell against his throat. Jack swallowed. He knew her pain. Maybe what he’d been through after Charlie could finally help someone else. He put his arms around her.

“Carter,” her hair feathered up in his breath. “It’s okay to miss her.”

The violence of her sob shook them both as she turned her head from side to side.

“I was told it helps to talk about it.” He breathed out again before continuing. “Wanna talk about it?”

Against his shoulder, she shook her head again. Jack allowed himself a rueful smile.

“Yeah. I didn’t follow that advice either.”

Slowly, gently, his hand reached up to stroke her hair. 

“You don’t have to say a thing.”


End file.
